


Oh Those Varsity Days

by urbaninja



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urbaninja/pseuds/urbaninja
Summary: Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, and all their friends are facing off against one of the biggest challenges that can be faced. University. join them as they navigate clubs, classrooms, roommates, parties, exams and all the other fun things that come with post-secondary education.A collection of loosely interconnected one-shots.
Kudos: 8





	1. Join My Club

“Here! Take this and say that you’ll join!” 

“I, um, uh” was all that Jaune Arc could really stammer as the pamphlet was thrust into his hands by a blur of orange. If she was telling him more or launching into a spiel it wasn’t sinking in. Not a lot of things were just now. 

Jaune was already two lectures deep into his university career and about at that moment where new information wasn’t going to sink in. He’d been looking for food and a quiet place to sort through his new notes but instead had wandered into the quad, where a sea of students were trying to attract members to their clubs. He thought he had manages to slip into a line where a fraternity or something was serving hamburgers but instead he had been yanked out and that was where he was at now.

“So it’s going to be super fun and you should join right now!” Came the conclusion from what Jaune now recognized to be a girl about his age. Though she was at least a head shorter but that didn’t stop her from beaming up at him expectantly. He’d missed the middle part of her spiel and wasn’t sure how to navigate around that.

“Well?” There was a further note of expectation and Jaune was about to either collapse in a heap or bolt.

“Nora, I think you need to slow down a bit,” came a gentle voice. “I think he missed a few details.”

“But Pyrrha, Weiss said to be aggressive,” Nora replied, but she seemed to back off.

“I’ll take it from here,” Pyrrha said with a smile. Nora looked hesitant, but then glanced between Pyrrha and Jaune before nodding and ran off to accost another student. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Pyrrha continued, after a moment. “Nora’s just very enthusiastic since we’re trying to get this club off the ground. We’re new.”

“Uh, right,” Jaune wasn’t quite sure what to say but was trying to save some face from his earlier cluelessness. “Your…club. For…” He looked down, consulting the flyer.

“We’re….sort of a book club? It’s more that we take a deeper look at folk lore and fairy tales. Do research about them, since there’s a lot of Vale’s history that links to the stories.”

Jaune nodded. Part of that sounded rather neat, if truth be told. He was about to ask for more when his stomach growled and he looked away embarrassed.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I was keeping you from lunch. I guess it is about that time,” Pyrrha looked away as well and Jaune kicked himself.

“Well, honestly. I got lost looking for the student mall,” Jaune muttered.

“If you stay on this path, it’s at the end,” was the response, which to Jaune’s dismay sounded slightly disappointed. He nodded his thanks and continued on. It wasn’t until he had managed to get some food and find a table that he realized he had kept the pamphlet. He smoothed it out again, taking in the details. He was pretty sure he was free that evening. He hadn’t really planned on joining any clubs, but it might be worth checking out.

As long as he could find the building.


	2. Left Handed Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a precious commodity in the classroom leads to steep competition

It had been a big day for Ruby Rose. 

Where most girls her age would be starting their junior year of high school, she was already on her first year of university. Thanks to a few years of homeschooling and a scholarship. It was amazing and intimidating to say the least. She’d thankfully been starting the year with her older sister, Yang, but they only had two classes together and Yang had had to run off to the other side of the campus to make it to her next class. Which left Ruby on her own.

It was fine. She could handle it.

She had an idea of where the classroom was from orientation, but it was hard to look up for the signs telling her where to go when she was short and the hallways full of people. She opted for the stairs instead of the crowed looking elevator and was grateful for the breathing room. It was, nerve-racking, being on her own. Still, two flights of stairs later and the classroom had at least been located. 

Ruby checked her phone, surprised that she still had at least twenty minutes until the class actually began. That was great! She could settle in, send a text to her dad and maybe even play a few levels of Grimm Battle. Moving into the doorway, she scanned the room. There were a few other people who had claimed the back of the classroom and were talking amongst themselves, and one girl along the wall who had headphones on and clearly didn’t want to be bothered. Ruby continued to scan the room until, there! Off to the side and roughly in the centre was a left-handed desk! 

A rare treasure, Yang had told her, and she would be wise to claim it early. Otherwise she might be stuck with a right-handed one and struggling for the rest of the year. And she would not have Yang in this class to claim it for her. She moved toward the desk only to find that she wasn’t alone.

“Excuse me,” came a snippy voice, and Ruby found herself shoved aside as a white-haired girl made a beeline for the desk.

“Hey! I need that desk!” Ruby said, recovering quickly as the girl placed her bag upon it.

“Well, so do I, and I saw it first,” came the reply in the same snippy tone. The girl’s eyes narrowed and it was very clear she wasn’t going to budge.

“You did not! I made it to the classroom first.” Ruby was going to stand her ground on this. She wasn’t about to let someone push her around. Thankfully, she and this other girl were about the same height. 

“It’s first come, first serve so you’re just going to have to find another desk.”

Ruby glanced around the room, having the vague feeling that the other students were now watching them. 

“There isn’t another left-handed desk!”

“That’s not my problem.”

Ruby could feel her confidence from earlier waning quickly and she could not figure out a way to dig herself out of this situation. More students were starting to trickle into the room, and it was getting to that point where she was going to have to find a seat one way or another.

It might have been immature, with a loud sigh, Ruby chose the seat next to the girl and started getting out her books with a great deal of frustration. It earned her a few glares from her new nemesis but she didn’t care.

At least the class was only an hour. And she’s have something to complain to Yang about at lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think both Ruby and Weiss are left handed? It's been a while. 
> 
> I can't say that this was ever something I actually had to deal with in a classroom but I do remember vastly preferring the rooms that had tables over the rooms that had desks.
> 
> Also this might become a space where I reflect on my own post-secondary experiences. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	3. Dorm Mates Conundrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friends you share your floor with are the friends that last forever

Blake Belladona currently wasn’t a fan of her life. 

She didn’t have a lot to complain about, certainly. School for the most part was good, things were okay at home with her parents, her latest chapter of fan fiction was getting a good response. Things were decent. 

She’d even managed to luck out with a decent dorm mate. Neo was quiet, and for the most part they stayed out of each other’s way, but she’d been polite and clean and really that was all that Blake could have asked for. The one drawback was that Neo had a boyfriend, and said boyfriend really didn’t seem to have a problem with treating her dorm like a second home. And while they were never loud, and Roman didn’t actively take over the space or get in her way (too much), it was still awkward. And something about Roman rubbed Blake the wrong way. 

All in all, it wasn’t ideal.

Which led her to tonight, where for some reason, her dorm room was the last place she wanted to be. She couldn’t pinpoint any particular incident that had set her off on this train of thought. Both Roman and Neo had been polite and they’d all moved to their own rooms without issue. She didn’t want to think that the steamy chapter she had read of Ninjas of Love had sent her down a rabbit hole of what might be happening in the other room but that could be a possibility. Whatever it was, she couldn’t turn her brain off and she knew she had to leave. 

She slipped out quietly, pausing briefly by Neo’s door but not hearing anything save for the low muffle of Roman’s voice and made her way into the hallway. She considered the common area, but people might be studying and it would be rude to ask them to turn off the light. Not having another choice, she knocked on the door of the room across from her.

Blake had met Yang and Ruby when they’d moved in, and they were familiar faces if nothing else. They said hello to each other in the halls and on the elevators. She and Ruby had had a short conversation about books in the breakfast line. They didn’t share any classes but they were familiar enough that Blake felt it might be okay to take this step. At least for tonight. She had a test in her first class tomorrow and needed the sleep.

Yang opened the door to the door and there was a moment of surprise followed by a moment of awkward silence. Blake had not prepared this far in advance. She should have come up with a script to follow (and Yang’s choice of pyjamas was not helping). She opened her mouth, unsure if she was about to ask to spend the night on their floor or apologize and go back to her room. Yang, instead, took the initiative.

“You know, we were wondering when you were gonna come over? Finally got to you, huh?” 

“What?” 

“The boyfriend. It’s gotta be awkward, right? I mean, I was gonna invite you the next time we saw you but this works to. Come on in.”

Before she had a chance to say no, Yang pulled Blake into the dorm room and closed the door. It was much like her own, but seemed smaller somehow. There was a small living space and two small bedrooms. It was messy, and it didn’t look like either sister was too invested in cleaning. Ruby waved from the couch where she was writing in a notebook. Finally, Blake found some words.

“Yes. It was getting awkward. Thank you for letting me stay the night. I can just sleep on the couch.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yang beamed. “And trust me, you don’t want to sleep on the couch. It sucks. You can take my bed. I’ll share with Ruby.”

Ruby looked less than thrilled at the idea.

“Or you can take Ruby’s bed and she care share with me.”

“That’s not the problem, Yang! You steal all the blankets!”

“What? Do not! Anyway, it's a sacrifice for me to. You snore.”

Ruby protested again and Blake had to smile at the argument. As an only child, she’d never really had that experience. There was a surprising amount of energy in the room that had made it hard to catch up. Yang looked back at her.

“Either way, choose a bed, and we’ll work it out.”

“Yeah! You’re always welcome to stay with us!”

The combined grin of the sisters was hard to ignore.

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Blake finally said, letting the smile remain. Something told her that she would be spending more time here no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lived at home while at Uni, so I never had to navigate this particular dilemma, but my mom did and she is still friends with the people whose floor she slept on.
> 
> Until RT sees fit to give us a solid definition of Roman and Neo's relationship, I ship it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	4. When it Rains it Pours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He really should have expected that the universe was going to find some way to trip him up.

Jaune Arc stared out at the campus in despair.

In his hands, he held his midterm paper for his history class. Finished, miraculously, hours before it was due, as opposed to the to the wire trend he had been pushing for the past two months. All he had to do was slide it under Professor Oobleck’s door and he could drift into the long weekend with only a few things on his mind.

He really should have expected that the universe was going to find some way to trip him up.

Presently, it was pouring rain. Professor Oobleck’s office was all the way across campus from the library, under who’s awning Jaune stood. There was no way he would make it there without being severely drenched and he had no way to protect his paper. He wanted to cry. He wanted to punch something. He mostly just sighed in defeat and grumbled in annoyance that he couldn’t just email his paper in and why was the professor so insistent on a physical copy anyway?

He was trying to decide what to do when it suddenly occurred to him that he was no longer alone. 

“It sure is pouring, isn’t it?” Came a slightly nervous voice that broke Jaune out of his thoughts. And, more importantly, caused him to brighten.

“Yeah. I didn’t think it was that bad inside, and then I got out here,” he replied, managing a sympathetic smile at Pyrrha Nikos. 

Truthfully, Jaune didn’t know where he’d be without Pyrrha. Summoning his courage, he had made his way to a meeting of the Folk and Fairy Tale Association, which was the club she had been advertising for, and he was glad that he did. Despite nerves and awkwardness, he’d managed to make a few friends and sharing classes with them made the university experience that much easier to adjust to. He probably would be failing this history class in particular if he hadn’t been sharing it with Pyrrha, who was a great study partner. Which brought him to another thought.

“Wait…do you still have to hand in Oobleck’s paper?” He asked.

“Yes. I probably shouldn’t have left it to the last minute, but I was busy with an assignment for another class.”

“I guess that makes sense. I just thought you would have had it done weeks ago,” Jaune shrugged. Pyrrha smiled.

“I’m not Superwoman, Jaune,” she replied,”And it wasn’t the easiest paper either. There was a lot more research involved.”

Jaune nodded, trying to ignore the voice in his head that suggested that he hadn’t done enough research. 

The pair stood in silence for a moment, watching the rain continue to come down in sheets. 

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to lighten up,” Pyrrha said finally.

“Yeah. So much for getting this in on time,” Jaune said with a sigh. 

“We’ve still got time. Maybe it will lighten up at least to make a run for it.”

Jaune looked skeptical as Pyrrha tried to be optimistic. 

“Don’t think it’ll be any time soon.”

Jaune was quiet for a moment, considering.

“Hey Pyrrha? Do you think they deliver pizza here?”

“Might be worth trying? It’s probably not the weirdest request they’ve gotten, but wouldn’t it be easier to go inside?”

“Probably, but…I kind of like it out here. Suits the mood.”

Pyrrha smiled and pulled out her phone.

“What kind of toppings do you want?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never had to deal with this problem in particular during my Uni days. But I did have a number of routes to take to maximize the amount of time spent indoors when travelling from class to class during the colder days, as many of my classes were in different buildings. Yay interconnected buildings!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	5. Posing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was, Roman decided, hardly the time for him to be considering the choices he’d made in his life to make it to this moment but it was what he was doing.

It was, Roman decided, hardly the time for him to be considering the choices he’d made in his life to make it to this moment but it was what he was doing.

He was posed awkwardly in the middle of Neo’s dorm room, modelling while Neo sketched him for a project for her art class. He was leaning back, most of his weight on a cane and the arm of a couch, one arm raised, holding a flower that he presumed he was supposed to be contemplating dramatically. It was a ridiculous position, hardly realistic and yet Neo was set on it. And he had a hard time saying no to Neo.

“Are you almost done?” He asked, which earned him a glare from Neo. One that clearly said for him to stop slouching and get back in position and he did, as best he could. 

Vaguely he wondered why Neo had even decided to take an art class? It’s not like it was a soft option or an easy pass or really part of her degree. His arm was sore. It had felt like an eternity that he had been posed like this. Wasn’t she just supposed to do a rough sketch? His nose itched. 

There was the sound of a door opening and out of the corner of his eye, Roman could see Neo’s roommate, Blake come in the door. She paused briefly by her room, surveying the scene in the living space. 

“Is this for your art project?” She asked Neo, who nodded in reply and held up her sketchbook, inviting Blake over to take a look. Roman wanted to protest, to suggest that Neo finish first and free him before showing Blake but it was too late and anything would have likely earned a glare from Neo. Blake regarded the picture, nodding as Neo pointed out details. He tried a heavy sigh, but was ignored by both girls.

It was then that Roman noticed he had a problem. His foot was slipping, the carpet he had shifted onto was starting to slide along the floor. He tried to shift back up but his reclined position wasn’t allowing it, no matter how hard he tried until there was a bump and he was on the floor. It seemed to break the reverie of the moment as both girls looked up in surprise. 

Blake took that as her cue to go into her room and Neo just looked at Roman, annoyed. 

“Get back in position” her eyes seemed to say and he sighed, trying to pick himself up off the ground.

“Can’t I have a minute?” He asked, after a few moments of struggling. Everything felt sore and he wondered if he was getting old. There was a silence as Neo regarded him, before finally seeming to relent. She held up her hand, indicating a five minute break. It was enough that Roman relaxed and even allowed for a hint of a smirk.

“Gonna show me what you got?” 

Neo considered for a moment, and then shook her head. She turned to a fresh page in her book and wrote before turning it around.

It’s a surprise, the message said. Roman sighed again.

“You’re a tease, you know that?” He said, half fond, half exasperated. Neo just smiled placidly, before writing another message.

Back in place.

“Yeah, yeah,” Roman replied, pulling himself off the floor. The things you did for the ones you cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of my fine arts courses were drama-based more often than not but the actual art courses always seemed intense whenever I talked to art students. 
> 
> But mostly it was a chance for Roman and Neo to be cute.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	6. Cookies by Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is variety really the spice of life?

It was hard to see through the crowd of people, but Blake had a feeling he was there. He had been every time that she’d come by the cookie shop. His shift just seemed to coincide when she had a long enough break to get something to eat before heading off to her next class. (An hour was hardly enough time to navigate the student mall, get something to eat, and then take her winding route through interconnected buildings to get to the building her class was in. Why they had a history class in the biological sciences building, she would never know?).

Now, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that Sun Wukong was working. Sun was chatty and nice, in an overbearing but affable sort of way, and she’d been able to hold the odd conversation with him when there wasn’t a long lineup (which was rare given the popularity of the coffee shop). No, the issue was that she had been going to that particular shop long enough that Sun knew her order and she hardly needed to place it before he was ringing it up and getting it ready.

Truthfully, she was probably not the only customer for whom this was a thing. Sun probably had several regulars. And it didn’t stop him from being friendly, so it wasn’t like she was a cog in the coffee machine. Several late nights of thought had her land on the fact that it was predictable. That there wasn’t a lot of variation in her life. And something about that was anxiety inducing.

There were solutions, of course. She could go to a different shop, for one. But this one was on the way and she preferred the brand of tea they used to any other coffee shop on the campus (and she had tried several). She could change up her order, but she didn’t need anything fancy. Just a tea and two cookies to give her that boost to get her through that last stretch of afternoon classes. And she didn’t want to start going without that. And it’s not like she could ask him to change his shift just because it was awkward for her.

And that was where her brain decided to stay that night, and suddenly it was morning and she was no closer to an answer. And she would be desperately in need of that tea come the afternoon.

And so there she was, back in line. And unsurprisingly, Sun was working. He saw her in line and gave her a friendly wave. Blake waved back, though less than enthusiastically. By the time she reached the front, the tea and cookies were waiting and Sun was already ringing in the order with practiced ease.

“Long night last night? Thought you didn’t have a paper due until next week?” He asked, as Blake passed him a bill.

She shook her head. “Got thinking about something and couldn’t stop,” she replied, accepting the change.

“Hate nights like that,” Sun said with a nod of sympathy before handing her the tea and cookies. “Well, hope this is a pick me up.”

Blake gave a wane smile and moved to go add some cream to her tea. It was as she was was placing the lid on the cup that she noticed something.

“Hey Sun.” She said, as the latest customer moved on and the rush seemed to quell for a moment. “There’s three cookies here…I usually only get two.”

“Oh, yeah! New seasonal mint cookie, for the holidays! You looked like you needed it,” He grinned, and it was almost cheesy in how thoughtful it was. “Let me know how it tastes. Neptune says the mint’s really strong.” 

For a moment Blake didn’t know what to say. She had had so many thoughts about how to change up her routine, and here was her problem, if not solved then momentarily defused by an extra cookie. 

“Well, thanks! I’ll definitely be back to tell you.”

“I kinda figured. I’ll be looking forward to it! And please like it, I want to prove Neptune wrong.”

Blake smiled at that and nodded. She would have said more but Sun was occupied with another student and it was time she headed off to class anyway. And maybe having a routine wasn’t so bad. She had a reason to come back after all now. And one that wasn’t worth questioning her sanity over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I admit that I never got to the point of having my order known by a barista, I did have a favoured coffee shop and I wouldn't be surprised if I got pretty close. But I did know the owner of said shop and sometimes landed a free cookie. While writing this, I was pretty nostalgic for it all. 
> 
> I did also have a history class that was in the biological sciences building. And a Japanese class in the Earth and Atmospheric sciences building. Sometimes I was pretty sure room assignments were decided by throwing darts at a map. The routes I devised to stay inside for the maximum amount of time during the winter got pretty ridiculous at times but thank god for interconnected buildings. 
> 
> Blake and Sun are cute and good friends. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes you want to sit down and write chapters for your longstanding fics. Sometimes you want to start on other long fics that have lived in your head for an even longer time. Sometimes there's a pandemic and all your brain lets you write is a University AU with your favourite RWBY characters. And really, there's no point in not sharing. 
> 
> All the fics take place in the same universe and are loosely interconnected and follow a loose timeline. There isn't really an over-arcing plot and I'm keeping things pretty light for the most part. Maybe shipping is a thing, maybe it's not. I'm playing a lot of this by ear and going where I want to go. And I'll be glad if you want to come along for the ride.
> 
> Sundays seem like a good day to update, but I don't hold myself to any schedule.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
